Apparatus for distillation of mineral oils



Sept. 9, 1924.

` E. E. BILLQW APPARATUS Fn ufsTILLATIoNioF.MINERAL oLLs Fried nay 2s, -1918 `EyenZw y @Mmmm C f l, l, I

treated. A vfurther object of the invention Patented Sept. 9, 1924.

UNITED STATES l 1,507,659. PATENT OFFICE,

man E. mLLow, or EvANsroN, ILLINOIS, AssIoNon or ONE-HALF 'ro AnoLrrrUs n. ALLEN, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

' APPARATUS FOB DISTILLA'ITION 0F MINERAL OILS.

Application mea xgy 29, 191s. serial No, 237,198.

-To all whom z't may camera.'

Be it known that I, ELMER E.. BILLow, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and having residence at.. Evanston, in the county of Cook and the State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements irl-Apparatus for Distillation of Mineral Oils, of which the following is a speclication, reference beinghad to the accompanying drawings, forming a part thereof.

The purpose of this invent1on 1s to provide a method of distilling mineral oils which may be practised asa continuous process that shall be economical in. o peration and adapted to produce only a minimum deposit of free carbon from the o1l whlch 1s is to provide suitable apparatus for'the operation of such a process and the invention therefore consists in various operations and the means employed therefor, as hereinafter described and indicated by the claims. specific. form of suitable means 1s shown somewhat diagrammatically inthe drawings which representv in vertical section a still in the form of a metallic chamber or tower associated with ,a so-called lead kettle and ply valve, 4, controllin its furnace, together with other fittings and devices hereinafter described.

. The method or process which is the subject of-this invention will be described and explained inconjunction with a description of the a The`lea kettle lreferred to is a metallic bowl or vessel, whose wall indicated at 1, is of uicient 'strength to su port a molten mass of lead 2, carried in t e bowl, and is provided with a flange, 3, by which the vesselv is carried on the walls of its furnace which is shown in the drawings as of the oil-burning type, provided with an oil sup. a nozzle, 5, asso ciated with a mixing c amber, 6, adjacent a. combustion chamber, 7 in which a .damedefleding arch, 8, withfa curtain, 9, serves to properly distribute the flame and heat of combustion over the under'-sur face of the lead kettle, 1, so Ias to .keep the moltenlead,

which dips into the molten bath sufficiently atus illustrated' in the drawing.`

-deep to hermetically seal the chamber, 10,

minating preferably 1n a spray nozzle',-

adapted to atomize the oil and to discharge it under suliicient pressure so that as ity enters the chamber, 10, which is not under any appreciable pressure, it will at once assume a very finely divided condition descending through the chamber in the form of a cloud or mist. The drawing illustrates two sets of spray nozzles at 16 and 17 respectively, and while the representation is' ,only conventional, it will be understood that the nozzles, 16, are mechanical atomizers only, while the nozzles, 17, are an alternative type, adapted to employ a supply of compressed air or other expansible gas or vapor, for accomplishing the atomization of the oil supplied from pipes, 15. A supply pipe, 18, for such auxiliary gas or vapor isshown in the drawing, It will be understood', however, l, that any gas or ,vapor furnished through the pipe, 18, for the purpo@l of atomizing the oil must be of such a nature or quantity as not t'o form an explosive mixture with the oil in the chamber, 10. By hermetically sealing the chamber, 10, vby immersion ofits flange, 11, in the molten mass, 2, it is the intention to operate the process at approximately atmospheric pressure substantially inthe absence'of air, thus rendering it perfectly safe from explosion. On the other hand, it will be-found that certain gases or vapors canbe introduced through the pipe, 18, which will materiall assist in the distillation process, or whic will chemically combine w1th some products v f 'ofthe yprocess with benelicialresults.

. Since the spray nozzles, whetherfoflthe mechanical pressureioperated type, 16,' or

ofthe vblast-operatedmixing t e, 17, comprise interiorly :certain relatlvely V small apertures through which the oilpis fed,

` as indicated in the drawing. This .shows a central fitting, 20, carried on a base plate,

2l, in which two or more similar nozzles.

are concentrically mounted with respect to an axis of rotation of the plate. Each nozzle may be provided with an individual control valve, 22, and all the valves may be kept closed except the valves of nozzles actually in registration with the openings,

19. When a given nozzle rquires cleaningv its valve need merely be closed and the plate, 21, rotated a part of a turn-to' bring the next nozzle into registration with the opening, 19and upon opening the valveof the newly positioned nozzle, the discharge ofoil will at once be resumed through the particular opening. While the drawing shows only two openings, 19, it may be understood that any desired number may be providedl so that the momentary shutting downaof a single. nozzle will not materially yaffect the total supply of oil tothe still and will by no means interrupt the continuity of the distillation process. Where nozzles of the type, 17, are employed, the central fitting, 2,0, may lbe supplemented vwith an additional fitting, 23, and corresponding branch pipe, 24, for individually supplying the nozzles, 17, with the gas or vapor furnished through pipe, 18, but where the mechanical pressure type of atomizer, 16, is employed, a single oil supply pipe, 15, leading to the fitting, 20, is merely connected by a series of branch pipes, 25, with the individual nozzles, 16.

With certain grades of oil it will be preferable to pre-heat the oil before supplying it to the atomizing nozzles, and for this vpurpose any suitable heat supply may be utilized. The drawing shows the main oil supply pipe, 26, leading to a coil, 27, vlocated within 'the molten heat-transmitting bath, 2, the terminal of the coil being shown at 28 as a branch fitting connected4 to the supply pipes, It will be noticed that the pipe, 26, and also the terminal of the coil, 27, respectively enterand emerge from the molten bath,vv 2,' laterally outside the depending sealing'ffiange, 11, passing through the supporting'flange or lug, 12, but in no way interfering with the seal of the tower or chamber, 10. l

If the nozzles, 16 or 17, by which the oil is introduced into the still are fairly high vmaterial will preferably be up in the chamber, 10, and thus at a considerable distance from the surface vof the bath of lead or other molten material at 2, the distillation of many rades'of oil injected at this position in t e tower, 10, will proceed by stages as thefinely divided vapor falls through the chamber ltoward the hot molten mass. The cloud or mist of oil descending in the chamber, 10, under the influence of gravity will be broken up into the various products by volatilization due to the heat in the chamber. The degree of heat in the vicinity of the injecting nozzle, 16 or r17, will be sufiicient to almost immediately volatilize the lighter oil products as they enter the tower in this finely divided condition, and by virtue of their-rapid ex-` pansion in volume, they will at once pass out through .the conduit, 14, to the condensers and other `apparatus above mentioned but not shown. Thev heavier oils descending into the lmore intensezones of heat will also, for the most part, be volatilized before actually reaching the surface of the molten bath', 2,"sothat 4with certain 'ades of oil there will 'be nothing left to orm 'a carbon deposit on the bath, and in some cases, even though a portion of the `oil vapor may actually come in contact with the molten bath, it will not necessarily throw down any solid carbon.

However, it is contemplated* that certainq other grades of oil will necessarily produce more or less of a carbon deposit, but owing to the molten condition of this heating element, there will be no difficulty in collecting and removing such carbon, whether'iit is deposited in loose graphitio form or crystaL/ f ized in a hard crust. In either case the pres-` ence of carbon on the surface of the bath would materially reduce its heat-radiating efiiciency, and it is therefore desirable that such carbon deposit be uickly removed. If the apparatus be so designed that the crosssection area of the tower, 10, is somewhat less than the exposed area of the molten bath, 2, the portion of the lead kettle, 1,v which is not 'immediately surmounted by the tower, 10, may serve thev purpose of a clean-out well for the removal of such carbon deposits.v Except during the operation i of cleaning, the surface ofthe lead or other rotected from the air by a hinged cover, 29, ut upon rais.- ing this cover, a tool such as that shown at 30, vmay be inserted in the bath and manipulated to reach up under the immersed flange, 11, and up to the surface of the bath within the chamber, 10. The tool, 30, which .is illustrated is in Ithe nature of aclam shell or two part` receptacle carried on a bent tubular handle, 31, through which the operating connections for openmg and closing it extend to an operating lever, 32. With such a device or' any other suitable apparatus, it will be \in'g air into the still, or

vLacasse possible to reach in and the carbon deposited onthe surface of the moltenbath in the chamber, 10, and withdraw such carbon through the molten mass and out by Way of the clean-out wall without introducwithout the necessity of packed connection through which air might leak into it. It is thus seen that the removal of carbon in no way interrupts the continuity of the distillation process, and can be eected vat any time .during the process so that for all practical purposes, the surface ofthe molten bath, 2, may be kept clear of carbon, even in theevent of a .relatively heavy deposit.y 4With most however, in view of the fact that-the process is carried on in. theaibsence of air, and preferably in a tower,`l of considerable height, the very great majority of the oil will be entirely v` latilized without deposit of carbon.

l. An apparatus for distilling mineraloil comprisingv an upwardly open receptacle containing a quant-it `of lead and Ameans y for heating 'saidlea Asuficientl 'to rendera it molten, a 'tower'surmounting t e lead con# tainer and sealed thereover to exclude air, openings in the tower lat the upperpart thereof, a plurality of olinjecting nozzles movably mounted adjacent each opening,

arranged to be selectively registered there` with, and means for closingl the opening to exclude air from the apparatus during-the interchange of nozzles, said'movably mount'- ed nozzles constituting means whereby the feeding of oil through the said'openings will be practically uninterrupted.- A

2. An apparatus for distilling mineral oil comprising an containing a source of heat or maintaining said leadat high temperature, lead sealed there-over to exclude air, a spra nozzlefor atomizing and'injecting oil poslv the tower.

grades of oil Vof the volatilized products.

upwardly *open receptacle." uantity of molten lead, a.

a tower surmouiiting theV ltioned in the Awall of the tower ata substantial'distance above the-lead and a discharge conduit leading from the upper Yportion of v 3. An apparatus for distilling mineral oil comprislng an open bowl containing'a quantity of molten material, a source of heat arranged .to maintain the temperature' of the molten material, a vertically disposed over said molten ma-l chamber or tower terial havin the lower edges of itssurrounding-wa ls immersed therein, thus hermeticall sion an terial to sealing 'the'ftower by such immerbe 'confined 'and rise within'the said tower without materially increasing the` pressure thereinabove atmospheric pressure; meansfor injecting oil into the tower at the upper portion thereof, whereby the oil thus injectedwill be subjected to the. action of the heat confined andrising withinthe towerand a lconduit at 'the top lof the s'aid tower leading therefrom for the `discharge 4, In an apparatus for distilling mineral 'oil' comprising al bath of molten material, a

downwardly open chamber covering a portion of the surface of said bath and hermetically sealed thereto by immersion of its side walls therein, means for removing foreign matter fromthev surface ofthe bath Within said chamber comprising a tool .adapted for insertion in a portion of the bath not covered by the chamber and formed to reachl under the' submerged edge of `the side wall of lsaid chamber and up to the surface of'the `bath therein, for .engaging :a quantity of said matter and wlthdrawing 1t throughV foreign the molten-mass.

In testimony whereof,"1,have hereunto set myrhand'atChicago, Illinois, this 18thl day oflMay,' 191f8Lt causing the heat of the molten ma- 

